Sony Posts Q2 Revenue Increase of 5.7% Against Loss of $111 Million

Global electronics leader Sony Corp. on Thursday posted a loss for its second quarter, as declining demand and price competition hurt the performance of Sony's electronics business andmore than offset improved results from its video game and movie operations, the Associated Press said in a report from Tokyo.

Sony lost $111 million in the three months ended Sept. 30, while revenue rose 5.7% to $15 billion.

The company repeated its September forecast for a full-year profit of $81 million, about half of the previous year, on a 3% rise in revenue to $61 billion.

Sony has revised its earnings forecast twice this year. Initially in April, it had forecast $1.2 billion in profit for the year ending in March.

Sony says the economic future is uncertain after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States.

Sony's electronics business had a tough quarter, hurt by lower demand and severe price competition from the rest of Asia, said the AP. It had an operating loss of $209 million in the electronics sector as sales were steady at $10.8 billion.

According to the company, sales of personal computers and TVs lagged in Japan, while displays and video camera sales were down in the United States. Video cameras, displays and PCs didn't sell well in Europe, Sony said.

In the game business, sales doubled to $2 billion on strong sales of PlayStation 2 machines and games in Europe and the U.S.

Worldwide shipments of the PlayStation 2 totaled 4.62 million for the quarter, making for a total shipment of 19.6 million machines so far.

Sales in the movie sector rose about 29% to $1.23 billion on the box-officesuccess of America's Sweethearts, as well as movies from the previous quarter such as Vertical Limit.

Music sales rose 4.7% to $1.17 billion.

For the first half of the fiscal year, Sony lost $363 million. Revenue for the first half rose to $28.8 billion.